When I make homemade fries, I also start with cold oil, but I rinse the potatoes in cold water a few times, then pat dry, before cooking, to reduce the starch, so they won’t stick together. I cook on medium til they start to get light golden on edges, then turn the heat up to high til crispy and golden brown. Always crisp and yummy. I make my own season salt to salt them -— equal parts celery salt, onion salt, garlic salt and table salt.
I used to rinse my potatoes in cold water. You are right to do it because it removes the starch that causes the potatoes to stick together. Some will soak them in water overnight—then, all you need to do is drain them good and dry them off well with paper towels. That added moisture, if not removed with the paper towels, goes pop when the oil get up to temperature.
I skip rinsing them and save on paper towels. I think the added starch makes them crispier. A method given by “Cook’s Illustrated” says to use Yukon Gold because they are less starchy. Using those allows you to skip the water rinse. I am a little daring and skip the water rinse even with Russets.
One way I keep them from sticking together is I layer them with each layer 90 degrees to the one below. That seems to work best, but when in a hurry, I will also skip that step and lay them all going the same direction. I will make sure all the potatoes are separated and coated with the cold oil first by moving them around carefully in the oil with tongs. Then, I use a butter knife to keep the mass moving as the oil heats up. This action keeps the oil moving between the slices. The butter knife works well to work those few apart that stick together. Once they are apart the hot oil gets between them and they will stay apart through the cooking process.
Use the butter knife or tongs to keep the fries moving around until they are past the sticky phase. Be careful, the fries are very fragile. Once the potatoes are past the sticky phase it is just letting them cook until golden brown.
The cold oil method is the best method because, according to experts, you use less oil. That means, less oil is absorbed into the fries.